Garment-supporter.



No. 707.7|7.' Patented Aug. 26, 902.

s. c. PEARSON. GARMENT SUPPDBTER.

. (Application filed Nov. 23, 1901.!

(N o M o d e I m: mums PETERS co" PHOTO-LIFO. WASHINGTON, o. c.

UrTrTEn STATEE PATENT @TrrcE.

SALLY COLEMAN PEARSON, OF MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

GARI'ViENT-SUPPORTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent'No. 707,717, dated August26,1902.

Application filed November 23, 1901. Serial No. BBABQ. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SALLY COLEMAN PEAR- SON. a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Montgomery, in the count-y of Montgomery and Stateof Alabama, have invented a new and useful Garment-Supporter, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to garment-supporters, and is designed to providean improved device'of this character which may be suspended from theshoulders of the wearer and is adapted for supporting skirts, hose, abustle, and hip-pads, and thereby to remove the strain and weight ofsuch articles from the hips of the wearer to the shoulders thereof.

It is furthermore designed to arrange the skirt-supporting means and thehose-supporting means so that the weight of the skirt will besubstantially balanced by the strain upon the hose-supporting meanswhich is applied to the front portion of the device, thereby to equallydistribute the Weight or strain upon the shoulders of the wearer and toprevent displacement of the device by the movement of the wearer.

WVith these and other objects in view the present invention consists inthe combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter morefully described, shown in the accompanyin g drawings,and particularlypointed out in the appended claims, it being understoodthat changes inthe form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within thescope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing anyof the advantages of the invention.

' In the drawings, Figurel is a perspective View of a garment-supporterconstructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention. Fig.2 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detailcross-sectional view through the waistband and back portion of thedevice to show the skirt-supporting means. Fig. t is a detailperspective View of the skirt-supporting device which is carried by theback of the waistband.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

In carrying out the present invention there is provided a belt orwaistband 1, having one end provided with a suitable buckle 2, wherebythe belt may be readily adjusted to the waist of the wearer. Rising fromthe front and rear of the belt is a pair' of suspenderstraps 3, adaptedto pass over the shoulders in the ordinary manner, the rear ends of theSuspender-straps being secured to theback portion of the belt by beingstitched thereto, as indicated at 4, or by any other suitable means, andthefront ends of the suspenderstraps are secured to the front portion ofthe belt in the same manner as indicated at 5. These suspender-strapsare crossed at the back of the device and fastened at their point ofcrossing, as indicated at 6, the front portions of the straps having adetachable connectionas, for instance, by means of a tab 7seoured to oneof the straps and having a buttonhole 8 formed therein for the receptionof the button 9, carried by the other strap. As best indicated in Fig. 2of the drawings, it will be seen that the front and rear ends of thestraps are secured at equal distances at opposite sides of a line drawnfrom front to rear and through the center of the device, thereby toequally distribute the strain upon the suspender-straps.

A suitable bustle-pad 10 is secured to the central back portion of thebelt or waistband, and hip-pads 11 are also secured to opposite sideportions of the belt and connected to the bustle in any suitablemanneras, for instance, by means of lacings 12-which permit of slightindependent movements of the bustleand pads, so that the latter mayreadily accommodate themselves to the form of the wearer. To support theback of a skirt, a pair or more of projections 13 are arranged withinthe upper portion of the hustle and are carried by a metallic plate 14,which is sewed through the covering of the hustle and to the belt orwaistband 1, the plate being provided with perforations 15 near its endsfor convenience in sewing the same to the belt, and also inclosed withina covering 16 of suitable fabric, so that stitches may also be passedthrough the edge portions of the fabric and form an additional fasteningfor the plate and the projections. These projections incline upwardlyand outwardly, as best shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, so that when thebelt portion 17 of the skirt 18 is drawn tightly about the waist of thewearer the upporting projections are also disposed substantially at thepoint of attachment of the rear ends of the shoulder-straps, whereby thestrain is uniformly applied to the shoulderstraps only, the belt merelyserving to prevent the other parts of the device from working out ofplace by the movements of the wearer.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that theskirt-supporting projections are located wholly within the top portionof the bustle, thereby to be covered by the bustle which forms a ledgeor pad extending between the opposite projections, so as to form acomparatively long support for the skirt, and also to obviate damage ofthe latter by actual contact with the projections.

WVhat I claim is 1. In agarment-supporter, the combination of a belt orwaistband, suspender-straps connected thereto, upwardly and outwardly directed skirt-supporting projections carried by the back of the belt toform a ledge over which a skirt is adapted to be snugly drawn, andhose-supporters connected to the front of the belt.

2. In agarment-supporter, the combination of a belt or waistband,Suspender-straps connected thereto a plate secured to the back of thebelt and having upwardly, and outwardly directed skirt-supportingprojections to form a ledge over which a skirt is adapted to be snuglydrawn, and hose-supporters connected to the front of the belt.

3. In agarment-supporter, the combination of a belt orwaistband,Suspender-straps connected thereto, hose-supporters connected to thefront of the belt and at the points of attachment of the shoulderstraps,and upwardly and outwardly directed skirt-supporting projections carriedby the back of the belt and located at the points of attachment of therear ends of the shoulder-straps.

4. In a garment-supporter, the combination of a belt or waistband,shoulder-straps crossed at the back and having their ends connectedrespectively to the front and rear of the belt, the straps beingconnected at their point of crossing, a button carried by the frontportion'of one of the shoulder-straps, a tab carried by thecorresponding portion of the other shoulder-strap and provided with abuttonhole for the reception of the button, hosesupporters hung from.the front portion of the belt, and skirt-supporting projections carriedby the rear portion of the belt and inclined upwardly and outwardlytherefrom.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

' SALLY COLEMAN PEARSON.

Witnesses:

B. A. TAYLOR, ERNEST LACY.

